XX INTRODUCTION. 



muscles are consequently wide but not deep, differing 

 in this respect from gallinaceous birds, which have a large 

 keel to the sternum, and correspondingly deep breast 

 muscles. 



As I have already mentioned, the economic importance 

 of the species of the Anatid.e is very great, and fortu- 

 nately therefore their broods are large, and their num- 

 bers, although very much lessened in past years by 

 constant slaughter, are fairly maintained in some portions 

 of the continent. Of course, among so many kinds there 

 is a great diversity in the quality of the flesh, and while 

 some are eagerly sought for their high excellence there 

 are others of which little can be said in praise. Those 

 species that subsist upon rank grasses or animal sub- 

 stances are usually impregnated with the flavor of their 

 food, and therefore not greatly desired for the table. Of 

 these may be enumerated many of the Sea Ducks, some 

 Geese, and the Mergansers. The birds of this Family 

 place their nests (which are mostly formed of feathers 

 and lined with down, plucked from the breast of the 

 female), in the majority of cases upon the ground, but 

 some build amid the branches of trees or occupy hollows 

 in the trunk, and a few even seek holes in the banks, near 

 streams. The eggs number from eight to twenty, are 

 without markings, and vary in color from white to pale 

 green. The young run and swim as soon as they escape 

 from the shell, either seeking the w^ater themselves, or 

 else, as in the case of those hatched in a tree, are carried 

 to it in the bill of the female. She incubates the eggs 

 and cares for the young, in certain species the male assist- 

 ing, in watching over the brood ; but generally the males 

 are very remiss in these duties, and, especially among the 

 Sea Ducks, frequently desert the females after incubation 

 commences, and go away by themselves, forming a 



